would most probably be 5 out of 10. at their respective peaks imran is as likely to knock sachin's out early as tendulkar carting him around the ground. have seen khan make attacking batsmen look like fools and sachin make great fast bowlers cry "mommy".

Are u talking about a single test or an entire series? Because i can hardly recall a time when Sachin made ne great fast bowler "cry mommy" for an entire series.

Like McGrath, Pollock, or Vaas, he belonged in the "fast enough to usually succeed" category.

i completely disagree and i am leaving it at that.

Actually I am not leaving it at that.

I do remember Hadlee being significantly faster than Pollock,/ McGrath/ Vaas types., He was no Lillee/ Marshall/ Holding. But he was in the Akram league in terms of pace for the majority of his career. He might have slowed down a bit after 19856-86 but by then he had crossed 300 wickets already and most of his career was behind him. Also, he didnt become that slow for him to be remembered as a medium pacer. Even cricinfo lists Hadlee as Right-arm fast. So I know I am not imagining all of this.

Originally Posted by thierry henry

And btw, many of the mediocre bowlers Hayden "stepped out to" were substantially faster than Pollock/McGrath. As I said, above 140kph was probably the cut-off.

Pollock, as a prime example, was a fine bowler, but exactly the sort of bowler Hayden loved to hammer. McGrath and Hadlee would've been in the same category.

Pollock was "fine" but Hadlee was great. he was as accurate as McGrath but faster. Hadlee was definitely better than Pollock overall. Even for argument's sake if you want to bunch them in the same category in terms of pace (I wouldn't agree but still...) pace alone doesnt determine whether the batter can succeed in stepping out to you. Pollock relied on seam (as did McGrath). Hadlee was a master of swing as well. I dont think a batsman with a faulty backfoot technique could have handled Hadlee very easily. I admit I was trying to be nasty in giving Hayden 0.5 out of 10 in facing Paddles. In all honesty it would be around 0.6. Okay. Okay. Enough mucking around. I would give 3 to Hayden and 7 to Hadlee.